Direct Mail in Northern Virginia

[Scott Nolan]

I sent out 1000 direct mail yellow letters to absentee owners in Fairfax County. The response I got was only two phone calls, both highly unmotivated.  Is this typical for the area?

[Russell Brazil]

@Scott Nolan Direct mail should over time give you a 4% response rate.  So if you direct mail 12 months in a row to the same addresses....it is likely you will get 3-4% of those people calling you back. Then the lead conversion rate is a whole other story.

On another note....maybe Fairfax County, one of the 10 richest counties in America isnt the best farming area for absentee owners.  Yes there are going to be burnt out landlords everywhere, but the incentive to hold in Fairfax county is going to be higher than in other locations. With an average sold price last month of $547,000...a 5% rise in value is going to yield an investor almost $30,000 in equity.  That sort of numbers really incentives people to hold on longer than in less higher income areas.